First time flying a Cessna.

Kestrel452

Kestrel452

Well-Known Member
All my time (almost 20 hours) is in a warrior. i flew in a 172 today and it was like i took a step over 10 hours backwards in my training. Is this transition that hard for everyone else?
 
I flew 40 hours in a DA20 before ever flying a cessa. It was a little different on landing because you have to pull back on the yoke a lot more on the flare, and the approach is a lot steeper. Other than that and having to use the carb heat, it didn't seem too bad. I'm sure you'll get used to it with a little more practice.
 
Yeah, bouncing back and forth will take you time to adapt. It's normal, and it happens to everyone.

Folks that tell you otherwise are either embarrassed or aren't very critical of themselves when flying.

i.e. I hopped into a super viking a couple months back (a plane I have more than 100 hours in) and I couldn't steer the thing on the ground worth a crap. Grounded myself with my buddies plane.
 
Yeah. I did exactly the opposite of you right after I soloed about 15 hours in, and it felt the same way. Its normal...
 
everyone is different. personally i would be hard pressed to really quantify any difference. yeah, it has a SLIGHT "feel" difference... visual pictures might be different, it might behave different here and there.... but nothing really major enough to jump to the forefront of my mind and go WHOA!

its just a plane. fly it! :-)
 
You should just stay in the warrior until after you get the private. Jumping from plane to plane will only add time and cost to the process if you switch around. Most of what you felt is just mental. It is a different plane so you think you cannot fly it. You will find that they fly just about the same.
 
tprops4me said:
Most of what you felt is just mental. It is a different plane so you think you cannot fly it. You will find that they fly just about the same.
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No, they are not mental. Maybe for you this was the case, but for most, there is a significant difference in the physical feel of a Warrior and a Cessna.

There is a quantifiable measureable difference in control pressure input and also in rate of response to control input. To new students, this is starting over.

There is a measuable difference in the sight picture on final, and especially during roundout.

These differences are easily and quickly overcome and forgotten, but at first, it can be very different.
 
I did all my private in a warrior then after my license went to a 172. Had no problem with the transition, just had to tweak my landings a bit. Every person is different, some take longer to learn than others. Don't take it as a bad thing.
 
I did all my training at 5500 feet and in a cessna 172. Now I live by the sea and the available planes are all warriors. They feel way more solid in the air, easier to land, but float forever compared to a cessna....so yeah, there's a learning curve either way.
 
ozone said:
I did all my training at 5500 feet and in a cessna 172. Now I live by the sea and the available planes are all warriors. They feel way more solid in the air, easier to land, but float forever compared to a cessna....so yeah, there's a learning curve either way.
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I've never understood this concept of "float forever." I've heard people say that about DA-20s, too.

But every time I've flown a 172, a 152, a DA-20, and now a SuperCub, if you're on the right airspeed on final and flare at the right time, none of them have ever floated any more than the others.

Maybe it's my inexperience showing here, but I just haven't had that problem with anything I've flown.
 
ozone said:
I did all my training at 5500 feet and in a cessna 172. Now I live by the sea and the available planes are all warriors. They feel way more solid in the air, easier to land, but float forever compared to a cessna....so yeah, there's a learning curve either way.
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They float longer than a cessna? Every Piper I've flown has dropped like a rock (namely the arrow, cherokee) compared to the 150 I fly...That thing Floats forever.
 
Almost anything you fly after a Warrior is going to feel like a cross between the X-15 and a GeeBee in terms of difficulty to fly. Seriously, is there an easier airplane to fly than a Warrior? Delightful machines to take someone for a first ride in - very comfortable and non-threatening.
 
nosehair said:
No, they are not mental. Maybe for you this was the case, but for most, there is a significant difference in the physical feel of a Warrior and a Cessna.

There is a quantifiable measureable difference in control pressure input and also in rate of response to control input. To new students, this is starting over.

There is a measuable difference in the sight picture on final, and especially during roundout.

These differences are easily and quickly overcome and forgotten, but at first, it can be very different.
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I was referring to the way the OP said they went back hours in training. Every different plane has a different feeling. That's why they are different planes. You just have to make the plane do what you want it to. Way to much emphasis is placed on transitioning from Cessna to Piper, or vise versa. It will be a little different, but it is all very much the same.
 
During my training i flew a PA28R-201, 172, PA28-180 PA28-161, DA40, and a C320. Solo'd all but the arrow and 320. I thought it made me more aware of my flying and got me to work on what needed work.

But it all depends on what you feel comfortable.
 
ok so, you have a drivers license.... how much shockingly different is a CIVIC and a COROLLA?

ok now how about a GRAND PRIX?

yeah, a little, different feel/weight....but shoot, its still a car. right?

can you go from driving a civic to a corolla in 1 hour? yep. perfectly fine. can you hop into a ferrari or fighter jet and have mastery? no, probably not.

theres really no big difference between two light trainers. sorry, but theyre just not that different. fly the plane.
 
ok dont anyone take this personally, but really... do you feel like you cant hop in another fairly similar plane and just FEEL what it wants to do?

after hopping in a few planes with no "book learning", it only takes a moment to feel the sweet spots for climb.... cruise.... approach....final...short approach....speed vs pitch....etc etc...

come on, they WANT to settle in to these modes... i can feel if im trying to FORCE a plane into a speed/energy/attitude that it really doesnt want to do....

cant you?
 
I didn't read the other comments, so this might have been said already...
Having 20 TT and trying to switch airplanes, any airplane, will have a steep learning curve associated with it for a few hours, for any pilot.

Congrats, you are normal!

Well, did you like it?
You can't beat the landing gear of a cessna. Smooth and forgiving.
 
nosehair said:
No, they are not mental. Maybe for you this was the case, but for most, there is a significant difference in the physical feel of a Warrior and a Cessna.

There is a quantifiable measureable difference in control pressure input and also in rate of response to control input. To new students, this is starting over.

There is a measuable difference in the sight picture on final, and especially during roundout.

These differences are easily and quickly overcome and forgotten, but at first, it can be very different.
Click to expand...

Nope, it's just a plane, fly it IMHO. If you can understand what makes a plane fly (i.e. pressure), the you should be able to get nearly every single piston to fly how you want it to. It may have a different amount of pressure required to make it do what you want it to, but as I tell all my student's, flying an airplane is not mearly moveing the controls, rather it's "all about the pressures." Pressure makes it stay aloft, and pressure makes it do what you want it to.
 
Perfectly normal when switching between planes, especially from a low- to high-wing and at such a low experience level.

Heck, I switch between Diamonds, Pipers and Cessnas every day and even now I'll find myself landing the Cessnas a little flat if I've been primarily training in the low-wings of late.
 
i think everyone here needs a lesson in ZEN and the ART OF <skill>

feel it. become it. dont be caught up in the thinking.
 
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